by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Apr 2, 2026 | Division News, Program News, Spotlight Articles
Eastern Division has a New Award! The Red Merit Star fills a unique and necessary recognition gap—honoring patrollers whose instinct, training, and intervention made a profound difference, even when the patient may not show or present with immediate life-threatening signs.
Unlike the NSP Purple Merit Star, which recognizes life-saving interventions, the Red Merit Star acknowledges situations where timely and skilled action, including load and go, which may have prevented a potentially catastrophic outcome, but where the injury or illness may not have initially presented as immediately life-threatening.
The Red Merit Star recognizes NSP patrollers who demonstrate exceptional emergency care, critical decision-making, and compassion in situations where their intervention was instrumental in preventing a significant negative outcome, or death.
Patrollers may be recognized for incidents in which they worked up to two years back. The process is similar to that of other Eastern Division awards. Further information and the application will be on the webpage shortly.
by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Jan 21, 2026 | Division News, National News, Program News
National Outstanding Awards 1st Place
| Alpine Patroller |
Jeffrey Baker |
GV |
| Alumni Patroller |
Roberta Fox |
ENY |
| Bike Host |
Dave Voelxan |
GV |
| Mountain Host |
Mark Voelkl |
GV |
| Nordic Patroller |
Jeff Sargent |
CNY |
| Nordic Patrol |
Allegany State Park Nordic Patrol |
WNY |
| OEC Instructor |
Vicki Whitacre |
WAPP |
| YAP |
Sean Wallace |
EMARI |
Division Outstanding Awards
| Administrative Patroller |
William Welch |
WMA |
| Alpine Patroller |
Jeffrey Baker |
GV |
| Alpine Patrol – Small |
Saw Creek Patrol |
EPA |
| Alpine Patrol – Large |
Ski Liberty |
EPA |
| Alumni Patroller |
Roberta Fox |
ENY |
| Bike Host |
David Voelxan |
GV |
| Instructor |
Louis Marchi, Jr. |
EPA |
| Mountain Host |
Mark Voelkl |
GV |
| Nordic Patroller |
Jeff Sargent |
CNY |
| Nordic Patrol |
Allegany State Park Nordic Patrol |
WNY |
| OEC Instructor |
Debbi Satterlee |
ENY |
| Patrol Representative |
Nick Rasher |
EMARI |
| Paid Patroller |
Thomas M. Wallace |
WAPP |
| YAP |
Sean Wallace |
EMARI |
National Appointment
| Thad Brown |
12361 |
WNY |
| Tim Jackson |
12375 |
WNY |
| James Giffin |
12382 |
NVT |
| Anthony ‘Gregg’ Pulver |
12387 |
ENY |
| Steven Sebastian |
12390 |
SVT |
| Gary Johnson |
12391 |
EPA |
| Dave Martell |
12402 |
CNY |
| Glenn Becker |
12417 |
GV |
| Annie Smith |
12418 |
CNY |
| Bernadette Fowler |
12424 |
CT |
| Kevin Glassman |
12438 |
SVT |
| Laura Harner |
12437 |
WMA |
|
|
|
Leadership Commendation Appointment
| Lee Burns |
8609 |
ENY |
| Debbie Satterlee |
8611 |
ENY |
Distinguished Service Award
| Linda Boyd |
CT |
| Beverly Dillon |
CT |
| Charles Montrie |
EPA |
| Paul Spear |
EPA |
| Robert Starr |
EPA |
| Doug Van Brunt |
EPA |
| Dave Curry |
GV |
| Dan Fuller |
GV |
| Glenn Gebhard |
GV |
| Steve Hellems |
GV |
| Jen Jesske |
GV |
| Betsy Landre |
GV |
| Gary Marks |
GV |
| Kim Terwilliger |
SNY |
| Roger DelGiorno |
SVT |
| Cal Goldsmith |
SVT |
Meritorious Service Award
| Jay Thompson |
EPA |
| Bill Muir |
ME |
| Jonathan Wilson |
SVT |
Donna McGraw Patroller for Patroller Award
William J. Gross Memorial First Aid Trophy
501c3 Division Director’s Award
Jerry Sherman OS Division Patroller Award
| John Shipman |
EMARI Alumni |
Yellow Merit Stars
| Carl Chaplin |
NH |
| Parker Duthaler |
ENY |
| Grant Fullman |
ENY |
| Bob Fidium |
EPA |
| Roeb Gravel |
EPA |
| Kenneth Kelly |
EPA |
| Christine Ludka |
EPA |
| Dina Manoway |
EPA |
| Jeff Welch |
GV |
| Aaron Damon |
ME |
| John Means |
ME |
| Paul Kelly |
NH |
| Jim Sindt |
NJ Alumni |
| Lewis Berman |
SVT |
| Stuart Buhrendorf |
SVT |
| Jason Corsello |
SVT |
| Robert Hildebrand |
SVT |
| Stephen Truskowski |
SVT |
| Brett Beattie |
WMA |
| Emilie Beattie |
WMA |
| Robert Fielding |
WMA |
| Jason Griffin |
WMA |
| Paul Maloney |
WMA |
| Gerry Pollard |
WMA |
| Bill Welch (2) |
WMA |
| Dave Gossell |
WNY |
| Bill McCasey |
WNY |
Purple Merit Star
| Jay Pesci |
CT |
| Greg Caruso |
ME |
| Ben Defroscia |
ME |
| Conor Doherty |
ME |
| Ghazale Jansheed |
ME |
| Cody Morin |
ME |
| Yarrow Farnsworth |
NH |
| Caden Conry |
WMA |
| Paul Dodds |
WMA |
| Danielle Garavito |
WMA |
| Robert Garriepy |
WMA |
| Finley Hewitt |
WMA |
| Jennifer Lesperance |
WMA |
| Bridget Maloney |
WMA |
| Paul Maloney |
WMA |
| Mark Manton |
WMA |
| Albert Mason |
WMA |
| Melissa Maye |
WMA |
|
|
Blue Merit Star
| Jay Boorjian |
CT |
| Joseph Bolton |
NH |
| Drew Burt |
NH |
| Samantha Kernen |
NH |
| Eric Martens |
NH |
| Jeffrey Randall |
NH |
| Mark Fisher |
SVT |
| Michael Gayda |
SVT |
| Phillip Ruppel |
SVT |
| Eric Scarborough |
SVT |
| Christian Schilling |
SVT |
| Matthew Scott |
SVT |
| Ryan Siemers |
SVT |
| Frank Spinella |
SVT |
| Rick Thomas |
SVT |
| Hailee Belden |
WMA |
| Jack Brinegar |
WMA |
| Harold Green |
WMA |
| Jeff Green |
WMA |
| Jason Griffin |
WMA |
| Robert Ouellette |
WMA |
| Christian Wermuth |
WMA |
Patroller Cross
| Theresa Diamond |
EPA |
| Scott Jackson |
NH |
| Edward Perry |
NH |
| Forrest Abild |
WMA |
Host Cross
| Cianna Ferraro |
CT |
| Nile Pullin |
CT |
Patriot Star
| Matt Carniglia |
ENY |
| Brian Sangster |
ENY |
| Ryan Tiano |
ENY |
| Mark Bartram |
NH |
| Clarence Boutin |
NH |
| Clayton Caddy |
NH |
| Jonathan Demers |
NH |
| Ruslan Denysyk |
NH |
| Raelyn Viti |
NH |
| Jared Thompson |
NVT |
| Lance Johnson |
SVT |
| Becca Drake |
WAPP |
| Christopher Lindburg |
WAPP |
| Lillian Baker |
WMA |
| Andrew DeFabio |
WMA |
| Gina DeFabio |
WMA |
| Keith Hernandez |
WMA |
| William Knowlton |
WMA |
| Mathew Knutson |
WMA |
| William Koch |
WMA |
| Sam Kreitzman |
WMA |
| Liam McCarthy |
WMA |
| Rick McClave |
WMA |
| Everett Newbry |
WMA |
| Alex Stefurak |
WMA |
| Etena Tagie |
WMA |
| Ian Yu |
WMA |
Patroller Achievement Award
| William Boyens |
CT |
| Heidi Downs |
CT |
| Michael Gajdosik |
CT |
| Thomas Kim |
CT |
| Frances MacDonald |
CT |
| David Rodney |
CT |
| Anthony Hayden |
ENY |
| Mackenzie Osypian |
GV |
| Jeremie Sterns |
GV |
Angel Pin
| Carla Buiso |
GV |
| Lisa Flick |
GV |
| Gayle Gebhard |
GV |
| Heidi King |
GV |
| Mike Lincoln |
GV |
| Jill Olsen |
GV |
National Certificate of Appreciation
| Katherine Lynn Fox |
SVT |
| Stratton Mtn Corp & Ski Patrol |
SVT |
| Zach Sheppard |
WMA |
| Phil Stein |
WMA |
| Austin Kloc |
WNY |
| Cynthia Taylor Nagle |
WNY |
Division Certificate of Recognition
| Olivia Dinis |
WMA |
| Brian Rodden |
WMA |
| Josh Ruphrecht |
WMA |
50 Year National Lifetime Service Award
| Marshall Berger |
CT |
| Michael Bonaiuto |
EMARI |
| William Lawton |
EMARI |
| David Galpin |
ENY |
| Sheila Hoover |
ENY |
| Joe Bruno |
EPA |
| Edmund Conaway |
EPA |
| G. Gravel |
EPA |
| Alex Johns |
EPA |
| Mary Joyce Kemper |
EPA |
| Lewis Martin |
EPA |
| Ed Stawski |
EPA |
| Greg Bernhard |
GV |
| Marsha Wait |
GV |
| Thomas Griffin |
ME |
| Paul Higgins |
ME |
| Gregory Schneider |
ME |
| Jeff Friedrichs |
NH |
| Andrew Johnson |
NH |
| Robert Ricker |
NH |
| Sandra Scull |
NJ |
| Patricia Blenk |
SNY |
| Adrienne Dalton |
SNY |
| Rosina Montana |
SNY |
| John Ingham |
SVT |
| Anne Lian |
SVT |
| Bernand Lombardi |
SVT |
| Marit Sorensen |
SVT |
| John Brower |
WMA |
| Sue Delisle |
WMA |
| Steven Draisey |
WMA |
| Jane Nugent |
WMA |
| John Sober |
WMA |
| Laura Tucker |
WMA |
| William Cline |
WAPP |
| Ann Rahn |
WAPP |
| Harry Sweeny |
WAPP |
| Alan Billings |
WNY |
| Kurt Buranich |
WNY |
| Robert Frazier |
WNY |
| Thomas Maroney |
WNY |
| Larry Schottke |
WNY |
by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Sep 16, 2025 | Division News, Program News
Often, patrol directors and awards advisors don’t think about awards until just before a patrol event or as an award deadline is approaching. Don’t wait until the last minute to think about awards. The time to start working on awards is now, before the snow flies.
Trouble finding forms to nominate an NSP member for an award?
1. Go to NSP.org and sign in
2. Go to RESOURCES/DOCUMENT LIBRARY
3. Click on AWARDS
4. Find the appropriate form you need.
To review awards available and a brief description of each:
1. Go to NSPeast.org.
2. Click on AWARDS and scroll to review all the awards.
On this site you will also find descriptions and forms for Eastern Division’s Patriot Star and Patroller Achievement Award.
Once the sponsor writes the initial nomination, it’s best to send it to your Region Awards Advisor for review. They are listed on the Awards page. He/she can then forward it to attain the signatures needed.
by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Feb 18, 2025 | Division News, National News
The Eastern Division has an incredibly talented group of patrollers. We are proud that so many were honored with awards this year. This is a list of the awards winners for 2024, including our Eastern Division patrollers who won National Outstanding Awards and the Eastern Division Outstanding Awards winners. The list also includes National and Leadership Commendation Appointments, Distinguished and Meritorious Service, Purple, Blue, Green, and Yellow Merit Stars, Patriot Star, Patroller Cross, and Patroller Achievement Award winners, plus 50-year Lifetime Service Awards.
by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Jan 18, 2025 | Division News
It’s Eastern Division Outstanding Award nomination season and there are 21 openings to receive those titles. Each “opening” is listed, with a brief list of the requirements, on the Eastern Division webpage under Programs/Awards.
Current nomination forms for Outstanding Patroller or Outstanding Patrol must be downloaded from the NSP website.
Completed nominations are due to the Division Awards Advisor by March 1. Before submission to the Division, the nomination must be submitted and reviewed by the Region Awards Advisor and Region Director. Each region may submit only one name for each category.
The information for the patroller or patrol should include the NSP activities for this season and the last three. Contact your Region Awards Advisor for further details. They even have guides on how to write the nominations.
Remember, ACHIEVEMENTS make strong awards, not only titles! Let’s fill all 21 “Openings” this year!
by Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Awards Supervisor | Dec 16, 2023 | Division News
Sue-Ellen Helmacy, Eastern Division Awards AdvisorThe Eastern Division has an incredibly talented group of patrollers. We are proud that so many were honored with awards this year. This is a list of the awards winners for 2023, including our Eastern Division patrollers who won National Outstanding Awards and the Eastern Division Outstanding Awards winners. The list also includes National and Leadership Commendation Appointments, Distinguished and Meritorious Service, Purple, Blue, Green, and Yellow Merit Stars, Patriot Star, Patroller Cross, and Patroller Achievement Award winners, plus 50-year Lifetime Service Awards.
Minnie Dole Award 2023
2023 National Outstanding Awards
2023 Eastern Division Outstanding Awards
2023 Eastern Division Awards
David J. Nelson Memorial Scholarships 2023
National Appointments 2023
Leadership Commendation Appointments 2023
Distingished Service Award 2023
Meritorius Service Award 2023
Purple Merit Star 2023
Blue Merit Star 2023
Green Merit Star 2023
Yellow Merit Star 2023
Patroller Cross 2023
Patroit Star 2023
Patroller Achievment Award 2023
50-Year National Lifetime Service Award 2023
National Certificate of Appreciation 2023
The process of recognizing dedicated patrollers never stops. The deadline for submitting the 2024 Outstanding Award applications to Eastern Division is March 1st.
